JOLE Volume 9, Issue 1, Winter 2010

Fischer, Overland, and Adams used an ecological leadership model to study first-year college students to determine if gender or ethnic differences play a role in leadership attitudes and beliefs. This research indicates that gender and ethnic differences in perceived leadership ability may exist in incoming first year college students, but more research should be done with different circumstances.

Jayaratne, Owen, and Jones researched a leadership training program for the county Extension director role. The training program was successful in building leadership skills and behaviors for the participants in understanding themselves, building relationships, and managing resources. Findings were also used to improve the training program.

Experiential learning was the main topic of the research done by Moore, Boyd, and Dooley. The researchers examined the reflective writing and journal entries of students in an introductory leadership education class. The findings revealed that reflective writing deepened student learning.

Wisniewski studied teaching strategies for the Millennials. Through her findings, Wisniewski presents a leadership education model in which young learners succeed in leadership education through active learning in interactive settings.

In this article, Swigert and Boyd examined the leadership and citizenship progress of Boys & Girls Club and Keystone Club alumni. The research found that both of these organizations were effective leadership programs. The researchers recommend that these organizations be even more purposeful in teaching leadership skills.

Edgar and Cox attempted to recognize the characteristics of literature cited in the JOLE. They found that by identifying cited literature that you could characterize the field of study, define its boundaries, and explain how a discipline is mutually related with other fields of study.

Owens describes a precollege program for underprivileged students that is based on leadership roles fulfilled by administrators. These administrators all had a common goal to want to lead, but made their decisions based on their personal experiences rather than a knowledge-based leadership framework. The leaders went above and beyond a normal school relationship which created unique leadership opportunities and challenges. Owens recommends the application of a prescriptive leadership development model to provide administrators with a knowledge-based leadership framework.

Kaufman, et al. examined the interests and needs of the agriculture community with regards to leadership programming. The study found that there are needs and interests in having a leadership program in the community, but there are many details that the participants could not agree on such as time length of the program. Three outcomes of a leadership program that participants would like to see are knowledge of the changing industry, building relationships across industry sectors, and practical skills.

Barbuto and Story studied the relationship between emotional intelligence, locus of control, and mental boundaries. Their results indicate that organizations should seek out individuals that already possess emotional intelligence due to the substantial variance in experimental results.

Loughman and Finley provide understanding for all professions ranging from management to leadership researchers. The authors describe how charismatic leadership relates to the main character of this epic poem. This relationship deals with both positive and negative attributes of a charismatic leader in today’s society. The story of Beowulf can be a valuable tool for leadership education.

Eastwood presents an idea of how novels, poems, plays, and short stories can help students understand different aspects of leadership through the characters and situations in the literature. This understanding leads to conversations in which students can contribute their own personal experiences.